Get Another Boyfriend
by C-Rokkk
Summary: Ziva has a secretive lunch date, and Tony doesn't like it. Slight spoilers for Season 7. TIVA!
1. Lunch Date

**Hey everyone! Ok, so I'm insane, but I've had this thought in my head for a little while now, and I just typed it down here. But, I **_**am**_** currently co-writing four, yes, count them, four (and we're thinking up a 5th) stories with Your Royal Highness, and those are my priorities, so this may not get updated like it should. I will work on it in my spare time, though, I promise . I haven't forgot about One Shot either, so stick with me. **

**So this was originally going to be a one shot, but then I kept getting more and more ideas for it, so now it'll be a multi chapter story. The chapters will be a little on the short side, so I apologize for that. :( OKAY I think this is the longest author's note ever, so I'm shutting up. **

**I wish Tony DiNozzo was my boy-toy, but he's not, and I don't own him or any of these people. :)**

Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo sat at his desk, his head propped up on one hand, pretending to do the paperwork that needed to be done from the last case. **  
**

The case, which, of course, was long and complicated, and the killer, Chris Hubbard, had gotten to two more Marines before they had found him. That result put Gibbs in a sour mood, more than usual, and Tony wanted nothing more than to get away from him and the office.

He glanced down at his computer clock, 1147h. He looked across the bullpen at his partner, who was typing on her computer, quite content looking. Gibbs was off somewhere, and McGee was down with Abby, his usual spot after a case. He studied her some more.

She had her hair down today, straight with curls at the end. And, the fact that she had on a rather low-cut purple shirt and black jeans that fit her way too perfectly didn't help his current urge to jump over the desk and have his way with her.

He had been thinking about doing that often these days. But Gibbs would kill him. Not only because it was a rule, twelve to be exact, but because Ziva was definitely like a daughter to Jethro.

In the last month or so, Tony realized something. During those way-too long 4 months that she was away, he missed her.

A lot.

Not that he would ever admit it.

After she was rescued, Tony wanted nothing more than to hug her tightly in his arms, telling her that everything would be okay. She was, after all, his best friend, partner, buddy, pal. A hug was a friendly gesture that probably would've made her feel like she really was family. But he didn't do it.

In fact, nothing was said on the plane ride home, in the elevator back to the squad room, or the rest of the time she was in the building. Tony's gut turned in circles when he watched her leave with Abby that night, for that was where she was staying until she could get her feet on the ground again.

After a week too long with Filmore, Tony was more than ready to have his partner back, and was estatic when he found out through the grapevine that she wanted to become a special agent.

He knew it would be a long process, and he wanted it over with. But, during said process, when that bastard Officer Ben Gadone showed up and demanded that Ziva return to Mossad with him, Tony was furious. He wasn't going to let that happen, even if he had to tie one end of a rope to the statue of liberty, and the other end of the rope to Ziva's arm.

She wasn't going back to that awful place.

Ever.

He was going to make sure of that.

Now, she sat in front of him, at her desk.

She was _Special Agent Ziva David_.

He liked the way that sounded.

When he realized during all this time he was staring at her, he snapped back into reality and looked down at his computer clock again. 1204h.

He grinned. It was Lunchtime.

"Hey probie!" He said loudly. Ziva stopped the typing on her computer and glared at him.

"Tim is not in the room, Tony." She said.

Tony stood from his desk and walked over to her, "I know, _probie_."

"I will not respond to you if you do not stop calling me that." She said, anger evident in her voice.

Tony sighed, he didn't want to argue right now, especially since it was lunchtime. "Fine, _Zee-Vah_, lets go get some lunch.

Ziva looked up at him, a small smile on her lips, "Thank you, Tony, but I have already made lunch plans."

"Oh, with Abby? Well we can all three go."

"No, not with Abby."

Now he was confused, "McGoo?" Ziva only shook her head. "Duckster?" Again, she shook her head. "Well then...who?"

"It is no one in this building."

"Who is it, then?"

She looked up at him and smiled, leaning on the desk with both arms, her hands on her chin, propping her head up. "Why do you want to know?"

"I'm just...curious."

"Or jealous." Ziva said. She glanced up at him again before standing from her desk, her coat thrown over her arm as she added her weapon to her side.

"Why don't you want to tell me?"

She pressed the elevator button, "Because it is none of your business."

"I thought we were friends." They stepped onto the elevator as Tony's gut churned. Oh, how he wanted so much more than just to be her _friend._

Ziva raised and dropped one shoulder, "We are, I suppose."

"Friends tell each other things, Ziva. So come on, tell me." She looked at him as she walked out of the elevator, lobby, and started out to her car. "Are you seriously not going to tell me who you're having lunch with?"

Ziva laughed and patted him lightly on the chest, "Have a nice lunch, Tony." And with that, she got into her mini and sped out of the Navy Yard. Tony sighed, ran a hand through his hair, and opened the door to his Mustang.

Why wouldn't she tell him? What's so secretive? He honestly didn't know.

But he _needed_ to know. Not only for his sanity, but it was his responsibility to protect her.

At least, he _made _it his responsibility.

Briefly, he wondered who she met so quickly after returning from four months in the desert. She didn't seem to be with anybody, but if there was one thing Ziva was good at, other than teasing him with her seductive smiles and apparel, it was keeping a secret.

If she wasn't going to tell him, there was one way to find out.

Follow her.


	2. Questions

In the back of his mind, Tony knew he shouldn't do this.

Because, the last time it happened several months ago, it resulted in a man dead and Ziva hating him for a while. And, at this point, he was just now regaining her trust again.

But there was something that made him drive his car, staying at least two blocks behind Ziva's mini, in hopes that she wouldn't see him. As he drove, he had a flashback of when they first met, when Gibbs asked him to follow her. And she knew about it.

He smiled at the memory and turned down the same street she did, and almost lost sight of her as she cut off another car, who blew their horn at her. Tony shook his head in disbelief.

She'd been in this country for four years, and she still hadn't learned driving etiquette.

Ziva finally pulled into a restaurant, and it was one that Tony actually knew well, for he himself had brought a lot of dates there before. Luckily for him, the guy had a table out on the patio, giving Tony a perfect opportunity to watch them, hopefully without their knowledge. He sat across the street, at a coffee shop. Sipping on his cappuccino, he watched as Ziva laughed and put her hand on top of his. Tony didn't know why, but his gut clenched.

Earlier, he had decided that it wasn't jealousy.

He was just concerned for her safety.

There were, after all, crazy people in the world.

He was startled slightly when the waitress came up and asked him if he wanted anything else. He shook his head and turned his attention back to the couple across the street, and Ziva was laughing again. He rolled his eyes.

What in the _hell _was so funny?

After another thirty minutes, Tony looked down at his watch, and was slightly pleased when the lunch hour was about over with, and she was due back in the squad room. As if on cue, she stood from the table and so did he. Ziva wrapped her arms around him for a hug, and he pressed a kiss on her cheek, making Tony's gut clench again.

She waved goodbye to him as she sped off, and he stood watching her with his hands in his pockets. Once she was out of sight, he pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number, a smile stretching across his face in result of whoever he was talking to. Tony stood from the table and put a few dollars down before walking out of the coffee shop.

Back at the squad room, Tony marched over to his desk and put his weapon back in it's drawer. He wasn't surprised that he and Ziva were still the only two in the squad room, "Well I'm full." He announced, and Ziva looked at him, her eyebrows together.

"Good." She said softly, and turned her attention back to the paper she was currently working on.

"Had a sub sandwich." He said, and she nodded again, "It was delicious."

"I am glad." She said, still not looking at him.

He sighed, "What did you have?"

She rolled her eyes, "Pasta salad."

He chuckled, "Where from?"

She narrowed her eyes, "Why do you want to know, Tony?"

He put his hands up in defense, "I love pasta salad!"

Ziva let her face drop, "In the four years I have known you, I have never seen you eat pasta salad."

"Eat it all the time at the house." Tony lied.

"We ate at Fireflies." She told him. Tony grinned form ear to ear and stood up, walking over to his partner.

"So are you going to tell me who he is?" Tony asked. He was all in her personal space, leaning on the desk, his legs crossed as he stared down at her.

Ziva looked up at him, "Do you mind?"

"Who is it?"

"Tony, I have already told you that it is not any of your business."

Tony grinned, "Is he ugly?" She rolled her eyes and stared at him again, "He must be ugly."

"No he is not, Tony. He is actually rather handsome."

"Nah. He's ugly." Tony stood to his full form and walked to the front of her desk, leaning on it with two hands, "Because if he wasn't you'd be bragging about him, not keeping a secret from your friends."

Ziva sighed, "I do not see how not telling you who I am dating is keeping a secret."

"Dating? You're dating him? I thought you were just having lunch." Tony asked quickly, and instantly regretted it.

She smiled slightly, "Yes, I have been dating him for a couple of weeks now."

"Why is he such a secret?" Ziva chuckled, but soon, it was a full blown laugh, "Something funny Dah-Veed?"

"You are so jealous."

"I am not jealous." Tony said.

"Yes, you are, Tony."

"Am not!" Tony nearly shouted. Ziva stood from her chair and mocked his position, and it resulted in their faces being incredibly close.

"Why do you want to know so bad?" She asked quietly.

He stood and crossed his arms, mostly because her intoxicating scent was driving him insane, "There are crazies in the world, Ziva."

Ziva used her eyes to look him up and down, "That is not news to me, Tony."

Tony ignore the comment towards himself and continued, "So I have to protect you." Ziva rolled her eyes and sat back down in her chair.

"I can protect myself."

Tony laughed sarcastically and sighed, running a hand through his hair. He then walked around her desk again, sitting in the same position as before. Ziva looked at him and rolled her eyes. Tony knew she was annoyed.

But he had to get to the bottom of things.

"So if you're not gonna tell me his name, I'll call him Dan."

"Whatever floats your butt, Tony."

"Boat." He said, and then thought some more, looking at her face as she tried her best to ignore him. He grinned as he finally decided on a question, "So how's Dan in bed?"

Ziva laughed sarcastically, "You are insane if you think I am going to discuss any of this with you."

"You haven't had sex with him yet?" He laughed, "Wow. Something or _someone_ you have on your mind must be stopping you."

And that's when Ziva lost it.

She stood from her desk quickly and moved his legs out from under him, causing him to fall, hard, onto the ground. He groaned from the pain as she straddled his lap one hand firmly under his chin, the other pinning him down by the arm. "This subject is dropped, Tony." She said through her teeth. Tony gulped.

"Okay." He managed, and she got off of him, storming in the direction of the restrooms.

Tony got onto his feet again, rubbing various parts of his body that were in pain.

He'd gone too far.

**Review? :)**


	3. Trace

**Hey everyone! Happy Thanksgiving! How was the turkey? Mine was good.**

**Reviews=happiness. :)**

Staring in the direction of the bathroom, where Ziva disappeared to, Tony walked around his desk, sitting down in his chair, propping his head up on one arm.

He was wrong.

He _knew_ he was wrong.

The way she dropped him and pinned him to the ground was strangely familiar to that time when they were in Tel Aviv, right after he killed Michael.

That thought caused him to shudder, and he quickly shook it out of his head. He didn't want that again. The constant thought that ran through his head that Ziva didn't trust him. It was too much.

And now, things were finally starting to return to normal. In fact, Ziva had gone to his apartment for their movie night one Saturday last month. And he enjoyed it.

Not only did he get to spend time with her, but he got to see her laugh.

His thoughts were interrupted when she walked back to her desk, sitting down in a huff. He looked up at her, and knew that words were a dangerous thing right now. But he needed to apologize.

He took a deep breath, "Ziva I-" He stopped and gulped, for the death stare that Ziva shot him almost killed him as he sat there. He swallowed, "Nevermind." It was then that Gibbs blew through the squad room, McGee following behind.

"Hope you weren't expecting this to be an easy Friday. Grab your gear, we've got a dead Marine."

* * *

"DiNozzo, photos. David, bag and tag." The bossman turned to McGee with a smirk on his face, "McGee, witness statements. He looks like a friend of yours." McGee turned and looked at the guy that found their dead marine, a guy with glasses, a sweater vest, shorts and flip flops, a laptop bag hanging on his left shoulder.

McGee sighed, "On it, boss."

Tony chuckled and pulled the lens cap off of his camera, "Boss gave probie the geek, Ziva." Tony said, and looked down at her as she squatted down to a piece of evidence. When he received no response, he spoke again, "Oh come on you're not gonna give me the Mommy Dearest treatment forever, are you?"

"If you live that long." Ziva commented, and the glared at him before continuing to look around the dead body.

The team continued to work on the crime scene, Tony stealing glances from his partner every now and then, trying to read the expression on her face. He snapped out of it when Gibbs yelled for him to follow him to take pictures of footprints. The two returned a few minutes later to see that Dr. Mallard and his assistant had finally arrived.

"Nice of you to join us, Duck."

"Yeah sorry about that, Jethro. It's rush hour."

"Got a time of death for me?" Gibbs asked.

"Yes, preliminary findings suggest that this marine died approximately 4 hours ago."

"Broad daylight." Gibbs commented, and then looked towards the street, "This is a busy road."

"I do not believe this crime went un-seen, Gibbs." Ziva said, and then reached in her lower pocket of her cargo pants, where her ringing cell phone was located. "Excuse me for a moment." She said, turning and walked away. Tony moved around to where she was, hoping to hear her conversation. Again, he knew it was wrong.

But he didn't care.

"Hello Jonathan." She said quietly. "No, I am sorry, I have to work. Maybe tomorrow? Okay, I will talk to you later. Goodbye." She put her phone back in her pocket and walked back over to the body, where Tony was suddenly taking multiple pictures of the victim.

"...but I will be able to tell you more once we get him back on the table."

"Do that, Duck. Pack it up. DiNozzo!" Gibbs yelled, and Tony looked up at him, slightly confused by the outburst.

"Yes boss?"

"Do you know what a successful picture requires?"

Tony furrowed his eyebrows together, now even more confused, "What's that boss?"

"The cap off of the lens." Gibbs finished climbing the slight hill and sat down in the Charger, and he sped off.

Ziva looked at Tony and visibly rolled her eyes, "Nice going, idiot."

"I had it off before, Ziva."

McGee looked between the two, "Everything okay?"

"Orangey." Ziva said and Tony scoffed.

"It's _peachy!" _McGee turned back to him, "Don't say a word, Probie. Get in the truck."

* * *

"Hey Abs." Tony said, walking into her lab, a Caf-Pow in his hand. She narrowed her eyes at him.

"Tony, what are you doing here? I've barely gotten started."

"I know that Abby, I just wanted to...stop by and say hi."

Her expression stayed the same for several seconds and it softened, Abby throwing her arms around the federal agent. "That's _so _sweet of you!"

He grinned, "Yeah, well I thought you could use some company." She smiled and hugged him again, turning back to her computer.

"We should hang out soon. You know, me, you, Ziva, McGee, Ducky, Palmer, and Gibbs, but he won't come." She smiled at him, "We haven't done that in a while."

Tony chuckled, "No, we haven't." It was quiet except for the music blaring in Abby's other room. He cleared his throat and she looked at him.

"I'm sorry Tony, but I've got to get this done for Gibbs before he comes down here."

"I know." He sighed, "Um, speaking of that, how long do you think it will take you?"

"Take me?"

"You know, to process the evidence."

"Well, there weren't a lot of _helpful_ things at the crime scene, so not long. An hour? Two if Major Mass Spec doesn't cooperate."

Tony nodded, "Good. When you get done with that, would you mind..." She turned and looked at him, "...doing me a favor?"

"I knew you wanted something." She said, pointing at him, but put her hand band on her hip, "What _kind_ of favor?"

"I need you to...trace a number for me."

Her expression softened, "Oh. That's all? Why don't you get Timmy to do it?"

"I like you more." Tony said.

Abby giggled, "Okay, what number?" He reached over her keyboard and got her post-its, quickly writing a number down and handing it to her.

"I need the call that came in at 17:34 traced."

She read the number and then crossed her arms, "This is Ziva's number, Tony."

He raised and dropped one shoulder, "I know."

"Why do you want me to trace the last call on _Ziva's_ number?"

"Abs, will you just...do it for me? Please?"

"The last time I went through Ziva's phone, it resulted in her being away from here for four months." Tony sighed.

"I'm not gonna let anything happen to her."

"Tony..."

"Abby. Please? I'm afraid that she may be into some trouble." He lied.

"Trouble? What kind of trouble? Is Mossad trying to call her or something?"

"Please? I'm asking you to. For me?"

She stared at him for several seconds and let out a heavy sigh, "Fine. I'll have it to you in an hour." He grinned and pressed a kiss on her forehead.

"Thanks Abs. Send it to my email, please."

Abby watched him leave her lab and then looked down at the post-it again. She let out a heavy sigh and put it on her monitor before walking over to her cabinet, picking Bert up and holding him tightly. "This cannot be good."


	4. Jonathan Crowbell

About an hour later, just as she'd promised, Abby dialed Tony's desk number and waited for him to answer. "Tony, can you come down to the lab?" She hung up the phone and walked over to her computer, typing on a few keys, waiting on the senior field agent to join her.

"Hey Abs." He said cheerfully. Abby turned to him and glared at him, holding a sticky note in her hand.

"You _promise_ you're not going to do anything to make Ziva want to leave, right?"

Tony sighed, "Yes, Abby, I promise."

She let out a sigh and handed him the small, yellow, square piece of paper, "That's his full name and social."

Tony grinned and kissed her on the forehead, "Thank you!" He said, and promptly left her lab. He returned to the squad room, earning funny looks from both McGee and Ziva, but he only ignored them as he plopped down at his desk.

"Something you working on, Tony?" McGee asked.

"Perhaps...the case?" Ziva snapped.

"As a matter of fact, Dah-Veed, that is _exactly _what I'm doing." He stuck the post it on his monitor and typed the name into the search bar, "You see, I found out that he had a girlfriend on the side, other than his wife. I'm running her name."

"And...what is her name?" McGee asked. He really didn't understand how Tony could've 'found out' that he was having an affair, because he hadn't done anything all during the case.

Tony chuckled and wiggled his finger at Tim, "Oh no. You are not getting my praise. This one gets chalked up to DiNozzo."

Ziva scoffed and rolled her eyes, turning back to her computer. Tony was about to make a comment towards her when his computer beeped with a result.

The man that Tony saw Ziva having lunch with, Jonathan Crowbell, had been arrested for domestic violence. Tony narrowed his eyes at the screen, continuing to read to the bottom. The man had two restraining orders against him. Tony glanced up at his partner that sat across from him, and then looked back at the computer, at Jonathan's picture. He had jet black hair, blue eyes, and a smile that about blinded Tony, even though it was on the screen. Now he really needed to know.

What in the _hell_ was Ziva doing with this...fake?

"DiNozzo, David, McGee, observation, now." Gibbs said as he blew through the squad room. Tony closed the search and tore the sticky note off of his monitor stuffing it in his pocket.

McGee waited on Tony to catch up, Ziva walking ahead, "So uh, did you find this woman who's having an affair with our Marine?"

"Yeah, I did. She's been dead for 3 years. Car accident. Guess my sources were wrong."

"What sources are those, exactly? Because I have looked through-"

"Can it, probie!" Tony said, stepping onto the back elevator, "It doesn't matter where I got my information. I checked it out, and it is nothing pertaining to the case."

He watched as the silver doors closed in front of him.

He wanted to grab Ziva and shake her, asking her if she'd hit her head.

Knowing that wouldn't work, (and the physical pain that would be inflicted on him) he decided that a plain heart-to-heart conversation with her would have to do. He was going to fix that problem.

If it was the last thing he did.

* * *

Tony walked into his apartment immediately loosening the tie that was around his neck. He let out a heavy sigh and ran a hand over his face as he walked to the refrigerator, pulling a beer out and walking back to his couch. Once again, his thoughts were consumed about Ziva.

He didn't even know what happened with the case they just completed. He knew it was solved, otherwise, he wouldn't be at home. He took a sip of his beer and let his head fall back on the couch. Was she willing to date _anyone_ on this earth except for him?

First Michael Rivkin?

And now...this...guy?

"Damn it!" He yelled at nothing. He sat in his apartment, in the dark, staring at the ceiling. He shook his head, he truly didn't understand. He sat there, in the dark, thinking.

His thoughts were interrupted when there was a rather...hard...knock on the door.

He stood up, and walked towards the door, one hand on his SIG, just in case. He didn't have _time_ to relax when he opened the door, as one Ziva David rushed in, pinning him against the wall. He managed to swallow, "I'm...having...trouble...breathing."

"Good." Ziva said through her teeth.

"Ziva...what...are you...doing...here?"

"I am trying to decide which way to kill you!"

"I can't...breathe..." Tony managed, and Ziva stepped back, causing Tony to almost fall onto the floor.

"I told you to stay out of it!"

Tony managed to catch his breath, "What are you talking about?"

"You had Jonathan's name and social security written down. Why?"

"Keep your voice down, it's after one, and I've got neighbors."

"Answer my question!"

Tony sighed, "I did it for your own good."

"For my own good?" Ziva replied.

"Yeah, it's a saying it means..."

"I know what it means!" Ziva yelled.

"Calm down."

"Who in the hell do you think you are?"

"I'm somebody who cares about you, Ziva. He doesn't."

"What are you talking about? You do not even know him!"

"He's violent!" Tony fumed. He walked towards Ziva, standing directly in front of her, so close that he could smell her intoxicating scent. "He's been arrested for domestic violence. He has two restraining orders on him." He spoke softly, something different than the yelling that had been going on for the last 10 minutes, "He's a psycho." He held his mouth together and spoke through his teeth, "Get another boyfriend." Ziva stared up at him for several long seconds. She swallowed the lump that was in her throat and spoke her teeth slowly, so that she was sure that he would understand.

"Stay out of my life."

* * *

**Okay, so, I know what you're all thinking: "WHERE IS THE TIVA LOVE?!" Don't worry, it's coming. You know I can't keep them apart for to long. :)**

**Review?**


	5. Feelings

**Merry _late_ Christmas!! :)**

**Andd I finally got to sit down and finish this chapter that I've been working on for just about a month. And that's...well...sad. But nonetheless, here it is, and I hope you enjoy! :)**

Tony stared at his doorway for several minutes, shocked at what just happened. He didn't even understand how she found out about it.

He then scoffed at himself.

She was like Gibbs, sheknew _everything._

He ran a hand through his hair and walked to his door, closing it and locking it, just in case she decided to come back. He knew what he did was wrong, and if the roles were reversed, he wouldn't like it all if Ziva got into his business.

It was only 2130h, but he was suddenly very tired. He showered quickly and changed clothes before crawling into bed, hoping that sleep would come to him.

After several hours, he realized that sleep was not something that was happening tonight.

* * *

Ziva walked, no, more like _stormed_ into her own apartment, throwing her badge and SIG onto the table that was next to the door. She walked into her kitchen and over to her trash can, where the balled up post-it note, containing her boyfriend's social security number and full name was. She unfolded and looked at it again.

She was going to kill him.

Didn't the man understand that she was a Mossad Assassin and she did_ not _need his protection? She tore the small square piece of paper into confetti and grabbed a bottle of water before returning to the couch.

Her thoughts were consumed. At one point, she breifley thought about going back over there and actually killing him, but the knock on the door stopped her from carrying out her plan.

As she opened the door, she yelled at him, "If you do not get away from me I-" She stopped when she realized who it was.

He smiled that charming smile of his, "Hi Ziva." She pinched her nose in embarrassment and looked down at the ground as he continued, "I know you said you had to work late today, but I wanted to see you and thought I would stop by." She was now looking at him again, "But if you want me to, I'll leave."

"No." She smiled, "Please, come in." She opened the door further and let him walk in before shutting it behind him.

"Everything okay?" He asked.

She nodded and smiled, "Yes, fine. Just my partner...he is very...juvenile."

"I see. Want me to...take care of him?"

She chuckled, "No, I took care of it. He will not be a problem anymore."

"Good." Was his reply. He put his arms around her waist and pulled her into a kiss. Ziva responded by wrapping her arms around his neck, and the kiss deepened further. When she felt his hands start to travel up her shirt, she put her hands on his chest and slightly pushed him backwards.

"Would you like a beer?"

"Yeah, a beer would be great." Jonathan replied, and then walked over to her couch. As she walked over, a beer in each hand, he spoke again, "So uh, why did you tell me you had to work tonight?"

Ziva half smiled, "What? I did have to work tonight. I only got off about an hour ago."

"I see." Jonathan gave her a look, took a sip of his beer, and sat it down on the coffee table before leaning over towards Ziva. "You sure I don't need to go handle this guy?"

Ziva chuckled, "No, as I said, I took care of it."

"Does this guy have feelings for you or something?"

"His name is Tony, and no, he doesn't. We are just partners."

"Tony, huh?"

Ziva rolled her eyes, for the topic of Tony was getting stale, and the fact that she wanted to kill him wasn't helping. "Look, Jonathan, I do not wish to talk about this any longer. Would you like me to order a pizza?" She stood from the couch and walked into the kitchen to grab her phone.

"Why don't you want to talk about Tony?" He pressed.

Ziva groaned, "Why do you _want _to talk about Tony?" She snapped back.

"Because." He followed her to the kitchen and leaned against the door frame, "I have a feeling that you have more than feelings for this guy." He stepped closer to her, "I _really_ hate it when there's another man in the picture with my girlfriend.

Ziva rolled her eyes again. They had been on a couple of dates, yes, but she definitely didn't see herself as his girlfriend.

In fact, the very thought of it made her shudder. She only returned to reality when he spoke again.

"So, you need to go ahead and tell me why you're feeling this way about this man."

"What are you a psychiatrist?" Ziva snapped again. Now she just wanted him gone.

"Answer the question." He demanded, and she narrowed her eyes at him.

"The only feeling I have is annoyance, and you are not helping. Drip the subject." She stared up at him for several seconds before looking down at the phone, "What would you like on the pizza?"

Jonathan responded by grabbing her wrist, "Ziva, I don't like it when women cheat on me."

"Let go of me." Ziva said through her teeth, and when he didn't, she spoke again, "Let go of me and get out of here."

"I'll leave when I want to leave."

And that's when Ziva had enough. She freed herself from his grip and punched him in the stomach, but it didn't seem to slow him down as he reached up, grabbed her by the throat, and pushed her against the cabinet. She managed to free herself from his vice like grip again, and flipped him on the floor before running over to the end table, where her SIG was located. "Get out." She said, her breathing shallow.

He managed to get to his feet, and slowly walked over to her, regardless of the government issued weapon that was aimed at him.

"You're playing a very dangerous game, Agent David." He said softly, a grin on his face as he left her apartment. He stopped and looked at her again before stepping on the elevator, "Bye love."

After Ziva made sure he was gone, she locked the door and leaned on it, her back sliding down it as her knees became too weak to support her weight. Tears began to swell her eyes. She wrapped her arms around her knees, her SIG still positioned in her right hand. She could already feel the bruise forming on her wrist and slightly on her neck where he gripped her before, but that wasn't why tears were streaming down her face. It was the one thing she never wanted to admit to anyone, or even herself.

Anthony DiNozzo was _right_.

She needed another boyfriend.

* * *

**Okay, so the end there was a little out of character for Ziva to me, but I'm super-ultra picky. So leave me a review and tell me what you thought. :) **


	6. Silence

**So I was off work today and promised myself that I was going to get a chapter up. And what do I do? Wait until 1:00 AM to start writing it. But hey, it's here, right? **

**I guess it's time for another disclaimer: Want them? Yes. Own them? No. **

Ziva took a deep breath and stepped out of the elevator, not at all ready or wanting to face anybody today.

She was exhausted, for she didn't get a wink of sleep last night. She tried, but she couldn't get her mind off of the humiliation she knew was coming from the next work day.

Dealing with Abby, McGee, and Palmer constantly asking her if she was okay was not something she looked forward to. Besides the urge to kill a certain human being, and the hand print marks around her wrist and slight ones on her neck, she was fine.

Then she knew that she'd have to deal with Gibbs and his insistence that he'd find this guy and kill him.

Dr. Mallard would love nothing more than to go on and on about a girl who went through the same thing years ago and that girl had a broken collar bone that caused her much pain later because she didn't get it checked out, so she should let him do a thorough examination on her, just _in case_.

That was not happening.

And then, there was Tony.

The whole reason she considered calling in sick to work today, but Tony would know something was up and come to her apartment on his lunch to check on her. Earlier, she had decided that there was no way around it, besides going back to Israel and having to explain such marks to her father.

She was going to have to face Tony, and she wanted to rip that bandage off now.

As she rounded the corner to the squad room, she was relieved to find that it was empty. She sat down at her desk and un-clipped her gun from her side, putting in it's usual drawer. Her hand actually ached from holding it all night, but she wasn't taking any chances. She looked at the stack of paperwork that needed to be completed. Groaning, she took one of the folders off of the top and began to work on it. Again, paperwork was not high on her to-do list today.

Gibbs was the next one to come into the squad room, as expected. He'd only glanced in her direction at first, but when he saw the state she was in, he took three steps backwards and looked at her more closely. She looked up at him with her tired eyes and waited for him to speak.

"Morning, Ziva." Gibbs finally said.

Ziva swallowed the lump that was in her throat, "Shalom, Gibbs."

He took a sip of the large coffee he had in his right hand and decided to ask the obvious question, "What happened?"

She looked down at the pen she was twisting nervously in her hands and then back up into his blue eyes, "Nothing, I am fine." He continued to stare at her as if he didn't believe her answer, "And I am handling it." She concluded.

He took another sip of his coffee. This was not going to cut it. He wanted, no, _needed _more information about why she was in this sort of state. "What are you handling?"He said, his voice no higher than a whisper.

She sighed. This is exactly the kind of conversation she wanted to avoid. "Gibbs, I do not want to get anyone else involved in this. I am fine, and I want to resolve this problem by myself!" She almost yelled. She blamed her mood on no sleep and the fact that Gibbs was pushing her buttons a little too hard this morning.

"Ziva..." He started, but stopped when she looked up with eyes that clearly stated she didn't want to talk about it anymore. "I'll be here." He said, softly, and quickly added, "If you need me."

"I won't." Ziva replied. He went around his desk and then she added, "But thank you." Gibbs nodded and turned on his computer, and that was the end of the conversation, much to Ziva's relief.

McGee walked in the squad room soon after and, as expected, stopped in front of Ziva's desk. He opened his mouth to ask her what was wrong, but caught a glance from Gibbs that screamed not to go there. McGee closed his mouth and tried again, "Morning Ziva, boss." It was his usual greeting, plain and simple, but it worked to clear the awkward silence.

Ziva wanted to get up and hug Gibbs for silently telling McGee not even to go there. She took a deep breath. _Two down, one to go. _

_At least, in the squad room. _

Thirty minuets passed the time he was supposed to be there, Tony strolled in the squad room, whistling as usual. Ziva followed him with her eyes and briefly wondered if his chipper mood was because he hooked up with someone after she had almost killed him.

But once he saw her, he stopped and stared. Ziva could feel his eyes on her, as she usually did and she returned the gaze. He stared at her for several seconds, shook his head, said nothing and put his gun away. Ziva only rolled her eyes and sighed.

She knew that was coming.

But it didn't.

Not even at lunch, when he followed her to the break room. He went to the vending machine, got himself a candy bar, gazed at her for a couple of seconds, and then nodded at her and left.

Not a word.

She'd endured Abby's bone crushing hug, Ducky's lecture and Palmer's lecture. When 1700h rolled by, McGee left first, telling her goodnight, and not too long after that, Gibbs left.

Since they had paperwork all day, Gibbs said nothing to make them stay past the standard 1700h. Ziva looked up with her tired as at her partner again, and he made no move to act like he was going anywhere. She looked at her paperwork stack, which was slightly smaller, but not near finished.

Her mind raced.

Why hadn't Tony said anything? Scenarios had ran through her head all day, and she was prepared with multiple things she could shoot back at him.

But...he said...nothing.

Ziva had caught him staring at her several times that day, but he would just stare into her eyes for a few seconds and return to his work. She didn't understand it.

Finally, at 1930h, she finished her paperwork and stood from her desk. She clipped her gun to her side, put on her jacket and threw one strap of her NCIS issued backpack over her shoulder. As she took a few steps towards the elevator, she stopped when she heard Tony's voice for the first time that day.

"Hey Ziva?" Tony said, standing from his desk quickly to catch up with her.

She closed her eyes for a second to prepare herself. After a long day of silence, he decided to give her the blow _now?_ She sighed and decided that it was better at this moment than in a room full of people. Spinning on her heel, she faced him. "What?"

He looked down at the ground before back into her eyes, "I um...just wanted to say..."

She rolled her eyes. Her mood was not any better, "Spit it out DiNozzo." She said harshly.

He sighed, "My phone will be all night if you need to call me."

She looked into his green eyes and shook her head, her exhaustion and anger evident in her face.

"I won't."

* * *

**Review? :)**


	7. Emotions

**Okay so, here we go. Finally chapter 7! **

**Other than being busier than a bee, this chapter was extremely hard to write, and I hate it. But I knew it needed to be updated, and I'm gonna try and do better with updating. I'm sorry! **

**Now, I know that Ziva (and possibly Tony) are both out of character in this chapter, but eh. It _is_ fiction. And it will get better, I promise! :) **

**Enough of my rambling.**

Tony watched as Ziva stepped onto the elevator. He shook his head in disbelief and returned to his desk. He wanted to tell her exactly what she deserved to hear, but he just couldn't.

Maybe it was the look on her face. The one that was a look of disgust, hurt and anger.

He sat back in his chair and laced his fingers behind his head, took a deep sigh and stared up at the ceiling. He became lost in thought, solely on Ziva. He groaned and sat up quickly, "Stop it, DiNozzo." He told himself.

In the back of his mind, he knew it was no use to worry about Ziva. She was his partner, yes, but she was more than capable of taking care of herself.

It was now almost an hour since Ziva left, and Tony finally made a decision. He sighed again and typed on his keyboard a little before grabbing a post-it note and scribbling an address on it. He stood, added his weapon to his side, and headed for the elevator.

* * *

"Who in the hell are you?" Jonathan Crowbell said as he opened the door. Tony smirked and took his wallet out of his pocket.

"I'm very Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo."

Jonathan responded by a smirk to mimic Tony's. "And what can I do for you, Special Agent DiNozzo?" He crossed his arms and leaned on the door frame.

Tony chuckled, "It's actually what I can do for you, Johnny boy." He sighed, "I believe that you have had some sort of relationship with Ziva David, correct?"

"Why does that pertain to you?" Jonathan shot back. Tony chuckled again.

"Okay. Let me put it this way. I know that you and Agent David have had some kind of relationship in the past."

Jonathan chuckled, "The past? I don't think so. What we have is definitely in the present, my friend."

"Not anymore." Tony said sternly.

"What? You her body guard or something?"

"Doesn't matter what I am. I don't know the situation behind the marks that were on her neck today, but-"

"Look buddy. I don't give a damn who you think you are, and I don't care what your feelings for Ziva are. I will do whatever the hell I want, and I'll do it with who I want. I suggest you do yourself a favor and get out of here."

Tony half smiled, "Alright, fine. I'm leaving. I've said what I needed to say. You have a nice night, Mr. Crowbell." He turned and walked towards the elevator, the smirk still on his face. He was going to make sure that that bastard didn't go anywhere near Ziva again.

Ever.

* * *

Half an hour later, he sat in his car outside of his apartment and opened his cell phone. He went past Abby, Ducky, Gibbs, and McGee and several others, which reminded him he really needed to clean the thing out, before he finally got to the name he wanted: Ziva.

His mind was racing and his conscious was telling him to call and check on her. That's what friends were for, right?

And they were friends...right?

He honestly didn't know anymore. He looked down at his phone again as his thumb hovered over the green call button.

Worrying about her and her emotions was a waste of time, he knew, but he couldn't help it. Even if she did see him as only a partner, she was somehow, in a weird twisted kind of way, more than that to him.

But she was Ziva David, after all, and was probably in her bed sound asleep and not worrying about a thing (like he was). And, other than that, she wouldn't answer his call anyway. He sighed deeply and shut his phone, trying to tell his conscious to shut up.

* * *

Ziva walked into her apartment and headed for her bedroom. She felt the need to rid some of the excess energy her body was currently storing. Not to mention the aggravation, anger, and other mixed emotions that were in there. She changed into a pair of tights and a tank quickly before adding tennis shoes.

Normally, before a run, she'd grab the iPod Tony got for her because she 'needed one to officially be an American', as he put it. But, doing so would remind her of him, as it usually did, and that's the last thing she wanted.

She left the iPod sitting on her dresser and headed out the door. Hoping that the run would help her get Tony, Jonathan, and just the awful day out of her mind.

Three miles later, she returned to her apartment, more frustrated than she was before. It didn't help because there was only one person on her mind the entire time.

Anthony DiNozzo.

It wasn't just the fact that he was right, but that he didn't say anything, and acted like he had no concern for her pain.

She groaned at herself and stripped quickly for a shower. The hot water felt good to her aching muscles and she stayed in it for a while before stepping out. Returning to the living room, she curled up on the couch and tried to focus on a book.

Ziva didn't understand why she was letting Tony or Jonathan get to her, because she knew better.

Mossad _taught_ her better.

The thought of Israel, Mossad, and her father made her shiver. She closed her book and put it back on the coffee table.

Out of ideas, she got in her bed and shut her eyes, praying for sleep to take her over. It was definitely what she needed.

After tossing and turning and staring for three hours, she turned over and looked at the blue LED numbers on her clock that was next to her bed: 1:15.

Making a decision, she sat up in her bed and grabbed her phone, scrolling through her contacts and stopping on Tony. She sighed deeply and pressed the call button.

"Hello?"

It was what she needed now.

Him.

* * *

**Yes, I _did_ kind of borrow a lyric from Lady Antebellum's _Need You Now _because I am currently madly in love with that song. So, if you haven't heard it, type .com into your search bar and listen to it. :)**

**Review? :)**


	8. Conversation

"_Ziva?_" Tony asked, after several seconds of silence.

"Tony I-" She stopped, and she was suddenly disgusted with herself. What was she doing? Calling her partner in the middle of the night hoping that he would just jump out of bed and leave whatever female he had in there and come to her rescue? Was she insane? Tears flooded her eyes but she managed to keep her composure. "I am sorry. I should not have called."

"_Ziva, wait._" Tony said, stopping her from hanging up the phone.

Ziva sighed deeply, "What, Tony?"

"_Why did you call?_" And then, there was silence again. Ziva felt horrible. She could tell he was asleep and knew he was tired. "_Ziva?_" Tony asked, "_Are you okay?_"

"Yes." She said quietly.

He sighed through the phone, "_You don't sound okay." _

Ziva sat up further in her bed and wiped the tears off her face, "I am fine, Tony. I am sorry for calling you. I will see you tomorrow."

"_Ziva..._" Tony started, but she had already hung up the phone.

Ziva brought her knees up to her chest and crossed her arms over them, letting her head fall onto her arms.

What was she thinking?

After several long minutes of sitting in her bed and trying to think of a solution to the mess she had made for herself, she finally found one.

She reached over to her nightstand and grabbed her cell phone. After a few rings, a familiar voice picked up the phone.

"Ziva?"

"Shalom, father."

Ziva hung up her phone again several minutes later and lay down in her bed, hoping that sleep would overtake her. About an hour later, just as she was dozing off, she heard a knock on her door. She sighed deeply and, cursing in several different languages, she got out of bed, put on a robe and walked to her door.

"I thought I told you I was fine." Ziva said. Tony stared into her tired eyes.

"I know what you told me. I sat in my apartment for almost an hour debating whether or not to come because of what you told me."

"Go home, Tony. I am fine."

"You already said that."

"Then go." Ziva said again, and started to close her door, but Tony stopped it with his foot.

"Ziva, you are not fine." He pierced her with his green eyes, and she knew he wouldn't take no for an answer. She sighed deeply and walked into her apartment. Tony followed her and shut the door. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Talk about what?" Ziva asked. She handed Tony a bottle of water and then opened her own. They sat down on her couch.

"Why this bastard got to you so much."

"He did not get to me." Ziva said through her teeth.

"Ziva you haven't slept."

"What is your point, DiNozzo?" He looked at her for several seconds again before putting his water on the table and moving slightly closer to the Israeli.

"Why did you let him get to you like he did?" He almost whispered. She stared at him, and after several seconds of silence, he spoke again, "I'm worried about you. The way you've been acting is not Ziva-like."

"I know, Tony." She replied softly.

"Why are you so upset?" Tony asked again. He wanted to get to the bottom of things.

Ziva sighed deeply and looked around her living room. It was dark except for the moonlight coming in through the living room window. The thousands of thoughts that had been running through her head came flooding through again, and she was sick of them. None of it mattered anymore anyway.

She sighed deeply and looked Tony in the eyes again, "Why didn't you say anything?"

Tony was confused, "Why didn't I say anything when?"

"Today. At work. You did not say one word."

"I didn't think you wanted me to." He sighed, "I was right about him. I knew that, and now you know it too. But I didn't want to upset you even more."

"You had no concern about what I was feeling."

"That's not true."

"Yes it is. You went home with one of your...floozies and went to bed."

"Floozies?"

"You did not even call, Tony."

"First of all, I did not have a 'floozie' in my apartment. That's not me anymore. Secondly, none of that is true, Ziva. I wanted to make it easier on you. That's why I didn't call. When you called, I was sitting in my apartment waiting for the phone to ring. And then I came here." Ziva sighed deeply. Several seconds of silence went by. "Is that why you're so upset? Because you thought I didn't care what that bastard did to you?" When she didn't answer, he continued, "What else, Zi?"

He wasn't going to let this go. "I did not trust your judgment again. You tried to warn me, Tony. You tried to warn me about Michael and Jonathan. And I did not listen. It backgunned both times."

Backfired." He said softly.

"Yes. Backfired." She replied. Tony stared back at his partner, and started to speak when she put her hand up, "Please. Do not say anything else." She swallowed the lump that was in her throat, "I am sorry, again, Tony. For not trusting you."

Tony took one of her hands, "You know that I was trying to watch out for you, right?" He asked softly. Ziva nodded. "Then you have no reason to be sorry. We're partners, Ziva. It's my job to look out for you."

"I know." She whispered.

"And everybody makes mistakes. The guy is a bastard and if he ever comes near you again, I'll handle that. But you don't worry anymore, okay?"

"I do not need you to protect me, Tony." Ziva replied. "I can take care of myself."

"I know you can." He kissed her hand and stood from the couch, heading towards the door. "But you obviously can't with this guy. And that's why you've got me. I've got your back, Ziva." She stood up and followed him to the door. "You go get some sleep, Zi. You need it." She nodded. He looked down into her brown eyes. "You okay?"

She nodded again and noticed that he was inching towards her, "I am fine, Tony. Thank you."

He shook his head, "No reason to thank me." He brought his hand up to her face and cupped it softly. There was a screaming debate in his head, and he knew doing what he really wanted to may get him killed. But he couldn't help it. He leaned down and captured her lips with his.

It was a short kiss, lasting only a second, but a shock wave shot through them like a lightning bolt. They were both breathing hard.

Somehow, Tony managed to step away from her and drop his hand from her face. She looked up at him again and he smiled, "I'll see you tomorrow at work?" Ziva only nodded. She had no words. "Goodnight."

Ziva closed the door and leaned on it, letting her head fall on the door, trying to make sure she wasn't dreaming.

Tony DiNozzo kissed her.

And it wasn't a dream.

Damn it.

* * *

**Review? :)**


	9. Partners

Ziva stepped out of the elevator the next morning and walked to her desk. She looked over at Tim, and then Gibbs and smiled slightly, "Shalom, everyone."

"Morning." Was Tim's reply.

"Good morning." Gibbs said, but continued to stare at her. After setting her purse down, she turned back to Gibbs.

"Yes Gibbs?"

Jethro stood from his desk and walked over to her.

"You okay?" He asked quietly.

Ziva nodded, "I am fine, Gibbs."

"You said that already."

"It is the truth. I am fine." She said again, this time slower.

He stared at her for several more seconds and then returned to his desk, typing a few keys on his keyboard and then taking a sip of his coffee before his phone rang. She looked across to Tony's desk and was not at all surprised to learn that he wasn't sitting in it yet.

He was, after all, Tony.

She smiled slightly at her thought and sat down in her chair, proceeding to turn on her computer when Gibbs' voice boomed again, "Don't get too comfortable, David. Dead marine. Grab you gear."

Ziva nodded and stood up, "I will call Tony."

"No, Ziva, you don't need to do that." Gibbs threw the keys to McGee, "Gas the truck."

"Yes boss." McGee passed Ziva's desk and Ziva turned to Gibbs, who was also passing her desk.

"I do not need to call Tony?"

Gibbs sighed, "No, come on."

Now Ziva was confused.

Why wasn't Tony invited to the crime scene? And then, standing at her desk, her mind was flooded with questions.

Did he tell Gibbs about the kiss?

Did Gibbs fire him?

She knew rule number twelve was serious, but was it _that_ serious?

"David! Move it!" She snapped out of her thoughts and grabbed her NCIS issued backpack and ran to the elevator.

As she stood there in front of her boss, her heart raced. If Gibbs fired Tony, did that mean she would be fired as well?

And if Gibbs didn't fire Tony, where in the hell was he?

* * *

Ziva was suddenly very self-conscious around Gibbs. She felt as if he was staring at her, and watching her every move.

When the quiet elevator _finally_ stopped at the garage, he walked out first and she followed, getting into the truck with McGee rather than the Charger with Gibbs.

The ride was silent until they made it out of the Navy Yard.

"McGee, have you seen Tony this morning?" She asked quietly.

McGee looked over at her, one eyebrow slightly raised. "Briefly." Was all he said. Ziva scoffed, for now, McGee was being weird. "What?"

"Where is he?" She asked, probably a little more quickly than she wanted to.

"I'm not sure. He was at his desk when I got to work. Right after I got there, I went to get a cup of coffee, I came back, and he was gone."

"Does Gibbs know where he is?"

McGee lifted one shoulder, "I asked him, he just gave me the stare. But Gibbs knows everything, so my guess is that he does know where he is." Ziva rolled her eyes and sat back in her seat. "Why are you so worried about Tony? It will be a quiet day without him. I kind of enjoy it, actually."

Ziva looked at him, "He is my partner, Tim." McGee rolled his eyes, "And when he is not at a crime scene, that means that two people will have to do the work of three. You know that as well as I do." She turned and looked out the window.

McGee looked at her and shook his head.

They were more than just 'partners'.

He knew it, Abby knew it, everybody knew it.

* * *

"Agent DiNozzo, the Director will see you now."

Tony sighed, "Finally." He muttered under his breath. He stood and walked into the Director's office, and something made his gut churn already.

He had got to work early specifically to see Ziva before anybody else did. But before he got to see the Israeli, Julie, the director's assistant, came down and summoned him upstairs. Reluctantly, he went, and had been sitting in the lobby since.

Julie kept apologizing for the wait, but would give him no clue as to what Leon wanted with him.

"Good morning, Agent DiNozzo. Have a seat." Tony gave him a quick smile and sat down in the chair in front of his desk. "I know you are curious as to why I called you up here."

Tony chuckled sarcastically, "Well Director, I assume that it's something to do with one of our female agents by the name of Sandra Wood. But I left her alone after she threatened to do some damage with her government-issued weapon she possess."

"And what, do you assume, that Agent Wood came to me about?"

Tony chuckled again, "She claimed that I was a stalker. But that is not true. I only asked her out once." Leon only stared at him, "Okay, it was more like four. But two times was asking her to get coffee across the street. So you can't technically count those."

Vance chuckled as he took the toothpick out of his mouth and walked over to the small table in the corner that contained a pitcher of water and several glasses.

Tony was rambling. He _knew _he was rambling. He didn't actually think that Sandra would go to the Director about the asking her out thing. She threatened to, but that threat had been made many times before, and no one had ever done it. And besides, he was over Sandy anyway.

The kiss that was shared between him and Ziva made him forget about any female in the past.

Ziva was the one he wanted.

And he finally had her.

But alas, his heart raced as he sat in Leon Vance's office. Scenarios were running through his head. Ones like Ziva went to Gibbs after that wonderful kiss and told him what happened. Gibbs went to Vance, and Vance had Julie get him to his office this morning. He swallowed the lump that formed in his throat.

Now he was worried that he was there to discuss Ziva and their _future _relationship.

If he was, he may not have a job in a few minutes. Nothing was going to ruin this.

_Nothing._


	10. Absent

Tony waited not-so-patiently for the Director to return to his desk and tell him why he was up there. He actually hoped that Gibbs would receive a call soon and come up there and demand that he go with him.

"To my surprise, Agent DiNozzo, you ware not here because you're in trouble."

Tony couldn't help the look that he knew that was on his face, "What?"

Leon nodded, "Just the opposite, in fact."

"The opposite?" Tony was trying to move things along. He wanted to get downstairs and see Ziva.

"Special Agent Emily Wright is going on maternity leave in a week."

Now Tony was confused again, "Okay." Leon half smiled, "Do you want me to get her a gift? Send a card around the office for everyone to sign?"

"SEC NAV has requested you to take her place." Tony only stared at him as he continued, "Special Agent Wright and her major case response team are located in Tampa, Florida. There is a hotel room set up for you already and all your expenses will be taken care of. You will be making her salary while she is on leave."

It was silent for a while until Tony spoke again, "Do I have a choice, director?"

Leon looked at him sharply, "Do you have a choice?" He pulled on his tie a little, "Yes, Agent DiNozzo, it is optional." Tony smiled and Leon held up a finger before he could speak, "But I strongly suggest that you don't refuse the job. SEC NAV obviously thinks a lot of you to take it, DiNozzo. It wouldn't be a good idea to get on his bad side when you're already on the good."

"I don't want to leave." Tony said plainly. There wasn't any other way to put it. He _didn't_ want to leave. Not now.

Why couldn't this come up a week ago?

Leon was confused. Tony was acting like Kayla when she was 4 and starting her first day of preschool: she didn't want to leave Daddy. "It's only temporary." He said again.

"I understand." Tony said. He looked down at his shoes and sighed. He really didn't want to go to Tampa, but if he refused the job, Leon would tell Gibbs, and Gibbs would come question him. And because he's Gibbs, he would know about Tony and his new girlfriend. He sighed heavily again and looked the Director in the face. "Okay."

Leon smiled as if he just won a game against the special agent. "Good. You fly out tomorrow." He held a folder for him to take. Tony stood, took the folder and shook Leon's hand before leaving the room.

Now, he wasn't so excited to see Ziva.

Because he'd have to tell her he was leaving for a month, and they would have to wait even longer to be together.

That is, if she wanted to be with him. That thought scared Tony.

Damn it, he wanted to be with her. More than anything. And now he had to wait again.

Thirty days suddenly seemed way too long.

Gibbs and his team returned to the squad room with nothing but an already confusing case, that he was sure was going to take a few days. "McGee, I need everything. Phone records, bank records, tax records and work history. Ziver I need you to run down every person he knew. We need some kind of clue."

Ziva looked over at the still empty desk across from hers, "Shall I call Tony?"

"Did I ask you to, David?" Gibbs replied. She sighed and sat down, picking up her phone in the process. As she started her calls to former Marine Sergeant Brian Decatour's workplace, Avery's Garage, her thoughts were solely on Tony.

Later that day, the case was even more confusing than it was when they started. Ziva let out a frustrated sigh and started to put her head on her desk when Gibbs' voice boomed, "Go home. No use in you two sitting here searching for something that isn't there. Abby is working on any kind of prints in the vehicle, so go. Come back tomorrow ready to work."

McGee and Ziva looked at each other and stood, gathering their things. McGee stood in front of Gibbs' desk, "Okay boss. We'll...see you tomorrow." He met up with Ziva at her desk and they walked to the elevator, slowly, just in case Gibbs changed his mind. "That was weird." McGee said as he pressed the lobby button the elevator.

"Yes." Ziva agreed. She looked down at the floor.

"But it's a good thing. I mean it's only 1930h. We've got most of the night." He looked over at the Israeli and she only nodded. "You okay, Ziva?" He asked.

She looked at him and put on a fake smile, "I am fine, Tim."

"Seems as if...something's on your mind." McGee said. The elevator stopped at the lobby and they exited, walking together towards the parking garage. Ziva didn't say anything for several seconds, but then looked up at McGee again.

"No, I am fine, Tim. I will see you in the morning." She hopped in her mini and sped off.

"Yeah, right." McGee muttered.

Ziva stood outside Tony's apartment door and took a deep breath. She didn't know what the reasoning was behind his not being at work today, and frankly, she was afraid. Scenarios ran through her head all day, but none of them made any sense.

_Why_ would Tony run to Gibbs and tell him about the kiss? Did he want to be fired? Did he not want a relationship with her?

Tears flooded her eyes but she held them back and knocked softly. She grew more and more nervous as she heard footsteps getting closer to the door. She scoffed silently to herself. This wasn't a blind date and she needed to stop acting like it was.

Tony swung open the door, "Hey how much do I owe you?" He asked, and then looked up to find Ziva standing there. He chuckled nervously, "Oh, you're not the pizza delivery man."

She smiled in response, "No, I am not, and you do not owe me anything..." She stopped and thought for a second, "...except maybe for an explanation."

Tony took a deep breath.

Here goes nothing.


	11. Finally

**Heyy! Thanks a bunch to all the reviewers, you guys rock! This chapter moved quickly, I know it did, but I think it's about time that I move along with the TIVA love and quit with the dancing already, whatcha think? It _does_ get a little steamy towards the end, but nothing you would have to exit over. I'll let you read and at the end explain my future plans.**

"Do you want to come in?" Tony asked softly, opening the door wider for her to enter. She nodded slightly and walked in, heading straight for his living room couch, a place where she'd spent many 'movie nights' before. "So um...there was a case today?" He asked, breaking the awkward silence.

She took the beer he was offering her and twisted the top off before taking a big gulp of the cool liquid, "Thank you." She said, nodding, "And yes. We have a case. We did not finish, Gibbs sent us home until Abby can find us more evidence that is actually helpful." There was an awkward silence again and Tony cleared is throat.

"Well you can count on Abby. She never disappoints."

Ziva nodded, and silence flooded them again. She knew that if she wanted answers to the questions she had, she was going to have to ask them. She took a deep breath, causing Tony to look at her, and she spoke softly, "Did you talk to Gibbs last night?"

Tony was confused, "No, why?"

"Early this morning?" Tony shook his head again.

"I haven't talked to Gibbs at all since I left the office yesterday. Why do you ask?" His brain went to overdrive. Did she tell Gibbs about the kiss?

"I do not understand why you told him about..." She stopped, she couldn't even say it. "...what happened yesterday."

Tony was shocked, "What?"

"I understand if it was not what you wanted or if it was too much too fast but you did not have to-" Tony put a finger on her lips.

"Ziva, I don't know where you're getting this from, but that's crazy. I didn't tell anybody about it." He removed his finger from her lips and cupped her chin, forcing her to look up at him, "It meant a whole lot more to me than I care to admit."

She couldn't help but smile. "Good. I am glad we are on the same book." She said softly.

Tony laughed, "Page."

She rolled her eyes, "Whatever the stupid American saying is."

He still had his hand on her, now it was tangled up in her hair. He moved closer, as if to kiss her, but she put her palm in front of his face, causing his lips to crash onto it. He sighed, "I thought we were on the same book."

She ignored his attempt at humor and moved back a little from him. It didn't help that he had already changed from what she assumed he wore to work today, a usual suit, into an Ohio State t-shirt and jeans that fit him almost _too_ perfectly. His current scent was not helping matters either. She decided that it was best to just ask him the obvious question.

"Why weren't you on the field today, Tony?"

"I was up with Vance. SEC NAV requested me to replace this chick down in Tampa while she goes on maternity leave." He said, his hand still tangled up in her hair.

Ziva felt her heart drop. She would have to be without him even longer.

"When do you leave?" She managed.

"Tomorrow morning."

"That is soon." She said.

Tony chuckled, "Yeah it is."

"When will you be back?" She asked.

"Thirty days." He saw the look on her face, and he knew exactly what her thoughts were. "We better make tonight count." She looked at him, a slight smile creeping on her lips. She was relieved to know that he wanted her just as much as she wanted him.

He pulled on her again and she gave in, letting his lips touch hers again. His hands left her hair and moved all over her body as his mouth traveled down her neck.

Tony relished in this moment. He'd thought of this, if he were to be completely honest, since the first day she came into the office, fresh from Mossad. And right now, he couldn't find any equilibrium around her, much less exhibit even the least bit of thought that made any sense.

Her hands were slipping around his waistband as she pulled his shirt over his head, his mouth only leaving hers for a fraction of a second. After he rid of her shirt, he started working on the belt of those damn cargo pants she insisted on wearing as she continued to work on his belt. He stopped tangling with the clasp on her bra and pulled her hands away, pinning them next to her head.

Tony used this moment to study her face, just like he did every day. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes glittering with desire and joy, and he never, ever, wanted anything or anyone so badly in his entire life.

He couldn't help but let out a long sigh.

"No." She said, wariness creeping into her expression, her hard breathing matching his.

Tony chuckled, "I don't want to stop." He assured her.

"I have a simple solution. Do not stop."

With a smile brought his mouth to hers again and he let go over her arms, causing her to immediately wrap them around his neck, pulling her closer.

Tony used this opportunity to pick her up, quickly carrying her to his bedroom. He placed her on his bed and got rid of her pants, and then her bra immediately after. He lay her down, pinning her hands above her head again. He slid his hands down her arms, and along the ample curves of her body. "Oh my god, Ziva." He managed.

"Tony." She replied, her eyes drifting shut, and her voice had taken on a needy, breathy quality as she arched into him, urging him to continue.

He didn't want to think about having to get up and leave her tomorrow.

He just wanted more of this.

More of _her._

**Okay, so, I could've kept going with this...steamy stuff here, but I didn't want to without opinions. Should I leave it with that or, in the next chapter, change it to major smut and the "M" rating? I need you're opinions! So review and let me know! Thanks! :)**


	12. Airport

**Thanks everyone for the great reviewsss! **

**I know some people were hoping for steamy-ness to happen in this chapter...and...well...didn't happen. I don't have the nerve to write smut yet. But I will get there one day and when I do, I'll write it. :) **

**This chapter may seem a bit weird, over-dramatic, and rushed, but I wanted to move along with the story. I'm not a patient person. So, when you get down to the end, press the nice button and tell me your thoughts. **

**Disclaimer: Ha! Wish they were mine, but they're not. **

Tony woke up the next morning from the sound of his alarm clock blaring on the end table. He reached over the naked woman next to him and switched it off, trying to ignore the fact that he had to get up, shower, dress, and pack in an hour to make his flight to Tampa.

But it didn't even seem important.

He looked down at Ziva, her dark brown hair sprawled over the sheets of his bed. She stirred and opened her eyes, looking up at him. Tony couldn't help but smile. "Good morning."

She returned the smile. "Morning." She turned slightly, staying in his arms to look at the clock. "You have to leave soon, yes?" She asked.

He sighed, "Yeah." She didn't reply. She didn't have anything to say. And suddenly, she started second guessing everything.

What was she doing? She knew that this could never be anything but a fling with Anthony DiNozzo, and she didn't want that. Yes, the sex was great, but after that, she couldn't expect any kind of relationship from the man.

She quickly moved from his arms and got out of bed, slipping on her shirt. "What you doing?" He asked, his voice breaking a little.

"I am getting dressed, Tony." She replied, as if it was a stupid question.

"Ziva..." He started, but her glare at him shut him up.

"This should not have happened." She said, tripping on her own words a little. She crossed her arms and watched him as he got up and found his boxers, slipping them on before walking over to her.

"Yes it should've. And I'm glad it did." He replied. She looked up at him.

"No. Now I have to accept the fact that this was a one time thing with you and I do not think I could handle that." She replied.

Tony scrunched his eyebrows together, "What do you mean, 'one time thing'?"

"It will never happen again, Tony." She replied, and walked away from him, looking for her undergarments.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Ziva." Tony said. He stood in the same spot, watching her as she walked around the room, collecting her clothes that were thrown everywhere in the room.

"What is so hard to understand?" She stopped moving and stared at him, waiting on his response.

Tony was starting to get angry, "I don't understand why you think this was a fling, Ziva! I want to be with you." He admitted. He let out a heavy sigh and looked at the floor before looking back at her.

"Tony, you know as well as I do that when you go down to Tampa, you will meet someone else."

Tony gritted his teeth together, "That's not me, anymore." She scoffed.

Ziva knew she was being ridiculous. But there was a part of her that wanted to believe that Tony would do what he always did.

Chase women.

She let out a sigh, "How do I know that?"

"Because. I wouldn't." He said, and walked to her, "I have wanted to be with you for about 3 years now, Zi. I'm not gonna ruin it."

Ziva was shocked. Did he really just say that? " If you wanted to be with me, why did you not tell me sooner, Tony?"

"Beats the hell outa me." He replied. He put his hands on her waist and pulled her close. She held her clothes in a small pile between them. "I really want us to work, Ziva." He whispered.

She smiled up at him. "It will." He pulled her the rest of the way to his body, and she responded by dropping her clothes. He kissed her, and it immediately turned passionate, Tony tangled his hands in her hair. He lay her back on the bed and started to pull on her shirt when Ziva put her hands on his bare chest and pushed him.

"Your flight leaves in an hour." She said, glancing at the stupid clock once again.

He sighed deeply, "Yeah, I know." He kissed her again and climbed off of her, heading for a shower. She sighed and looked down at her small pile of clothes that lay on his floor. It was 0530, but she couldn't go back to sleep and expect to get up in time for work.

And she also wanted to take Tony to the airport. She got dressed in yesterday's clothes and decided that she should help him pack. She went into his closet and pulled the only suitcase out that he had in there. She heard the water turn off as she went to his dresser, pulling out all of the boxers he had in there, which weren't many, since he usually went 'commando'.

The next drawer down was full of jeans, so she pulled a few pairs out and placed them in the suitcase. Tony emerged and thanked her, proceeding to help her finish. In no time, his suitcase was full and he was dressed.

"I assume that Director Vance sent a car?" She asked.

Tony walked over to the bed and zipped up his suitcase, "Yeah, he did."

"Well cancel it. I wish to take you to the airport." She said, crossing her arms. He turned to her, smiled and gave her a kiss.

"Already did, Zi." He lost his smile and sighed, "I guess that's everything."

"Yes." Ziva replied.

"Ready?" Ziva nodded and he took her hand as they walked out of his apartment together.

The drive to the airport was silent, neither of them really had anything to say. Once there, they got out of the car and had to rush because his flight was to leave soon.

They stopped at security, since Ziva couldn't go any further.

Tony put his bag on the ground and took both of her hands, "I'll miss you." He finally broke the silence.

Ziva smiled slightly. "I will miss you too, Tony." He leaned down and gave her a slow, passionate kiss before pulling her into a hug. Once the intercom gave his flight number a 'final boarding call', they broke the hug and Ziva looked up at him. "You are going to miss your flight." She said, "You still have to go through security."

"Eh. Security is easy. One of the perks of being a federal agent. No metal detectors." He smiled and she returned the smile, even though it was fake. She was holding it together better than she thought she would, but still, it was hard. "Tell Abby, Ducky, Gibbs, and Palmer I'll miss them."

She scrunched her eyebrows together, "And McGee?"

He rolled his eyes, "Yeah, him too. Throw some spit balls at him while I'm gone, would ya?" Ziva smiled and he leaned down to kiss her again. "I'll call you." He said and then finally started through security. Ziva watched him as long as she could through the people, and then waited until his plane flew off into the sky before leaving.

She got into her car and sighed.

This was going to be a _long _thirty days.

Life sucked sometimes.


	13. Miss You

**Heyy! I know, it's been forever...and I'm sorry. I'm in school, I'm working, and I'm doing photography. Pshyeah, I stay busy. So, therefore, this chapter was written quickly...and there is probably a few mistakes around. But I do hope you enjoy, and I promise I am going to try and do better with the updating. :)**

"Agent DiNozzo?"

Tony looked up at the tall, long-haired blonde that stood in the middle of the busy airport. "Yeah?" He said, a look of confusion on his face.

She let out a sigh and smiled, holding out her hand for him to shake, "Hi. Welcome to Tampa. I'm Special Agent Melanie Bowen." Tony then smiled, shaking the woman's hand before she continued. "That your only bag?" She asked. Tony nodded, "Okay then. Let's go." Tony followed her out of the airport and into the Chevy Tahoe. "How was your flight?" She asked.

Tony looked at her, "It was okay." She smiled and turned her attention back to the road. It was silent for about five minuets, until Tony decided to break it, "So uh, how did you know I was me?"

She looked at him and smiled, "You just look like a cop."

Tony chuckled, "I do?"

"Yeah."

"No offense but I find it hard to believe that you knew who I was with just a look."

"Isn't someone like that good to have on a team?" Tony looked at her the way Gibbs looked at him sometimes, to get to the truth.

She laughed, "Okay, fine. I guess I should start off good with you, since you are my boss. I was shown a picture of you. Our senior agent asked me to pick you up."

Tony smiled and looked down at his phone, "You're the probie?"

"No, not really. Even though Steven still calls me that. Alan is our Probie though. He's only been with us a year."

Tony nodded, "Steven, Melanie, and Alan."

"And Agent DiNozzo."

He chuckled, "Temporarily."

She stopped at a stoplight and watched as he typed a text message. "Already want to get back home?"

"Didn't want to come in the first place." He mumbled. He shut his phone after the screen read 'Message Sent'.

She looked over at him again. "Then, if you don't mind me asking, why did you accept the job?"

Tony sighed deeply, "I didn't really have a choice. Are we almost there?" He was already tired of the woman, and he wanted to get the awkward ride over with. Not to mention that the only thing his mind was on was Ziva David.

A small smile was still plastered on her face, "Yeah. We're almost there. We'll get you introduced to the team and let you get settled in at your desk, then, someone will take you to your apartment."

Tony nodded and took a deep breath. He stared out the window and one thought ran through his mind: 29 days, 7 hours, 52 minutes, and 36 seconds to go.

Damn it.

* * *

Ziva had successfully avoided Timothy McGee all morning. She'd got there before him because she went straight to work after dropping Tony off at the airport, which was all too early. When Tim got there he gave her a simple nod and went to his desk.

It was silent for a long time before Gibbs walked into the bullpen, informing them that he had a meeting with the director and SECNAV, and he wouldn't be back for a while. After he left, she felt McGee looking at her, so she quickly announced that she was going to the break room for a snack, and thankfully, when she got back he had disappeared to Abby's lab.

When Tim returned, it wasn't five minutes until Gibbs blew through and said that they had a case.

She had done all this for the one simple reason of knowing that when she could no longer avoid him, that he would start asking questions about Tony. And that was a subject she didn't want to talk about.

Because he had only been gone for a few hours, and she missed him already.

She scoffed at her thought as the team minus one made their way to a Petty Officer that had been shot. What was she doing? She was missing him _already?_ And it hadn't even been 8 hours?

Was she turning soft?

Her phone made a noise in her pocket and she quickly took it out, smiling as she looked at the front screen.

It was from _Tony_.

She _was_ turning soft.

"Take that if you want, Ziva. We'll wait. He's not going anywhere." She stuffed the device back in her pocket.

"It's a text message Gibbs. It can wait."

"Then read it."

She looked at him harshly and spoke slower this time. "It can wait."

"Are you sure?" Gibbs asked sarcastically. He stared at her for a few more seconds and then returned to the dead body in front of him.

McGee looked up at her as he grabbed a piece of trash to bag and tag, "What's up with him?" He asked her softly.

Ziva only shrugged her shoulders and returned to taking pictures.

When they finished with the crime scene, Ziva's text message that was burning a hole through her pocket still had to wait, as she was forced to drive, because Tim wanted to check out the dead guy with laptop.

But that was hard to do because she drove...well...like Ziva.

McGee let out a sigh as they pulled into the truck's spot at the Navy Yard.

"Now that I can actually _see_, I'll get some information on this guy." Ziva chuckled to herself as she got out of the truck, "Have you ever thought about maybe taking a drivers eduacation class?" McGee asked her.

"Why would I need such a class, McGee?"

"Because it would help you with your driving, Ziva."

"My driving is fine. I have never had a wreck." McGee responded with a doubting look, "Okay, I have only wrecked 4 times. But they were not my fault."

McGee nodded, "Thought so."

Much to Ziva's relief, McGee's phone rang with Gibbs' booming voice on the other end. She briefly wondered what got his socks in a twist but then realized that she was alone and could read her text message.

A huge smile spread across her face as she read his message.

Maybe this would work after all.

* * *

**Review? :)**


	14. Text Message

**OMG, did she really update?**

**I KNOW, right?**

**A whole year later...wow. I suck. But I do hope you enjoy! :)**

**Disclaimer: Still not mine.**

* * *

Ziva groaned as she sat at her desk, searching for anything on their now combined cases. The man they had found at the previous crime scene was killed the same way, and was dumped in the same place. Abby still hadn't found who the prints in the car belonged to, and since Tony wasn't there, there was a lot more work to be done than people.

"Anything McGee?" Gibbs voice almost echoed in the silence.

Tim sighed, "The killer didn't leave them a trace of anything, unless the prints in the car were his and he didn't have any sort of record. I'm looking at everything, boss. But I can't find anything that would give our killer a reason to kill these two men."

Gibbs groaned and left the squad room, Ziva guessed to go and check to see if Abby had anything again. McGee was busy typing on his computer, so Ziva slid her phone out of her pocket and read Tony's message again:

_Hey, made it to Tampa. It's hot. There's no White House, not a lot of normal trees, a lot of sand, and no Ziva sitting across from me. Is it sad that I miss you already? :)_

Ziva smiled at her message again and quickly typed him a reply:

_With sand, there is water. Try and have fun. _

_No, it is not sad. :)_

She closed her phone and slid it back into her pocket. "Ziva, I may have found something!" Tim said happily from his desk. Ziva rolled her chair backwards and walked over to the junior agent, leaning over him, staring at his computer screen. "Okay our first victim, Jared Valey, he was on leave the 21st and went home to his wife, found her cheating. They divorced 2 months later. Our second guy, Preston Jones, went on leave the 2nd and also got divorced less than two months later."

"So you are saying that our killer killed both of these men because they got divorced?" Ziva said.

McGee sighed as if all of his hopes and dreams were diminished, "Yeah, when you say it out loud, it doesn't make much sense. But it's the only thing I've found."

Ziva pat him on the shoulder and walked back over to her desk, "I would keep looking, McGee."

McGee made a face, "This case will never end."

Tony followed Melanie into their squad room and stood next to her when she stopped in front of three desks. "This is Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo. He will be our team leader while Emily is spending time with Jade." Melanie then turned to Tony, a smile now on her face, "That's what she named her baby. I've got pictures if you want to see."

Tony stared at her, a small, fake smile on his face. "That won't be necessary."

"Okay. Well um...this is Special Agent Steven Greene." Tony shook his hand, "And this is Special Agent Alan Charles."

Tony nodded, "Nice to meet you both." Melanie then walked passed them and to the third desk, Tony silently following.

"And this is your desk." Tony put his bag down beside it and sat down, turning on both of his monitors.

"Well things have been unusually slow. We haven't had a case in about a week, sir." Alan announced to him.

"Okay guys, look. A: Don't call me sir. And two, I'm only here because I pretty much didn't have a choice. I don't know how you do things on a normal basis, but I do know how we do things at home. So, that's how I plan to do things. When we don't have a case, we work on paperwork." Alan quickly nodded and returned to his seat, while Steven scoffed from his desk. Tony chuckled and walked back over to him. "So, a little hostel about me, are we?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Tony chuckled sarcastically again, "Okay, here's the deal. I don't want to be here as much as you don't want me here. Now I don't know why they didn't pick you for this job, maybe it's because they don't think you can handle it. Whatever the reason, I don't care. All I know is that I'll be gone in 29 more days. So lose the attitude, got it?" Tony finished with his speech and stared at the man with his green eyes.

"Yes, Agent DiNozzo." Steven replied.

"Good." Tony said, and walked over to his desk. "Paperwork friends. If this place is anything like home, I'm sure you've got a lot of it."

Melanie walked over to his desk again, looking down at him, "Uh, sir, I thought you would like to meet our Medical Examiner and Forensic person. They do come in handy sometimes." She chuckled and he looked up at her.

"Yeah, I bet they do. Alright. Lead the way." He stood from his desk again and followed Melanie to the stairs. "You guys don't have elevators here?"

Melanie nodded, "We do, but since we only have two stories, they're just for people who can't climb the stairs."

Tony chuckled, "Again, that wouldn't work at home. My boss uses it for his office."

Melanie stopped and turned to him, "I thought you were the special agent in charge."

Tony crossed his arms, "No, that'd be Special Agent Gibbs. I'm the senior agent, though."

Melanie nodded and continued walking, "Ah, so you've been with NCIS how long?"

"11 years. Why?"

She laughed, "I wouldn't tell Agent Greene that. He's been an agent for 15 years, and has only led a team once."

Tony couldn't help but laugh, "Must've been a bad experience."

"Oh you have no idea."

"That why he's so bitter?"

Melanie stopped in front of the door labled "lab" and turned to him again. "Part of the reason. The other part is that he wants to date me and I don't want to date him. The man doesn't know what the word no means." She smiled and turned the handle. "Anyway, this is the lab."

Tony started to walk after her, but stopped when he felt his pocket vibrate, "Hang on a sec, important business here." He walked a little more down the hall, opening his phone and reading his message.

He typed a quick reply before walking into the lab:

_No fun here. Agents already hate me. _

_You know where my spare weapon is if you need anything. _

_And I do mean anything, sweetcheeks. _

_I'll call you later._


End file.
